With the trend of veganism taking over the world, many restaurants are adopting and adapting to it. Shedding the spotlight on vegetables and fruits, these vegan restaurants are demonstrating that the humble vegetable can be the star of the show, too. Here are some of the award-winning restaurants from around the globe.
Eleven Madison Park, New York
Daniel Humm had a revelation about the food during the pandemic. He changed the menu of his already three Michelin-starred restaurant, which was touted as The World’s Best Restaurant 2017, and flipped it to a completely plant-based restaurant. Such a monumental shift in the already well-established institution was seen as a bold move. Now the chef focuses on bringing forward the innate essence of seasonal vegetables and serving them as the showstoppers. His most famous creation is the sunflower course, where the flower is cooked using numerous techniques.
Toyo Eatery, Manila
Honouring the Filipino rural tradition of cooking vegetables, the restaurant celebrates and cherishes its connection with the local suppliers and producers and literally offers a farm-to-table dining experience to its customers. The kamayan experience offer the guests to savour the food with hands besides the eight course tasting menu that includes decadent vegetable broth, bean curd with char grilled mushrooms. Their palayok or clay pot which is a rich medley of garlic, rice, water spinach and fresh sea grapes is surely their crown jewel.
D.O.M., Sao Paulo
Putting Brazilian cuisine on a global map, Alex Atala’s unique creation D.O.M, which means ‘Deo Optimo Maximo’ translating to ‘To God, The Good, The Great’, was first opened 25 years ago. The spacious restaurant has a 12-course tasting menu, which highlights the variety of dishes and ingredients from the country. The very best of the chef’s creations is the tucupí hollandaise, which is a gastronomical delight that oozes freshness from its vivacious yellow colour from the cassava.
Kle, Zürich
Chef Zineb “Zizi” Hattab, having worked with the most prominent chefs in the world, built her own take on food while combining her years of experience in the culinary industry. She wanted to depict a futuristic way of eating that celebrates the environment in a holistic manner. Working in close contact with local farmers, each day brings ‘surprises’ to the menu as every new day means new ingredients and dishes. This can be some pan-fried kohlrabi served with ancho aguachile or, gun-powder custard and a concoction of Swiss chocolate with raspberries.
Gaa, Bangkok
Garima Arora made her country proud when she was awarded the first Michelin star to Indian women for her restaurant Gaa, which is housed in a spellbinding Thai house. The restaurant has a vegetarian and vegan menu available, which is derived from contemporary Indian cuisine, especially street food. From melt-in-the-mouth kebabs to amchur-flavoured Durian fruit found in Thailand, her creations are not only a sight to behold but are a flavour riot in the mouth as well.
Amisfield, Queensland
This restaurant is not just a dining place but is an all-encompassing experience where the diner is transported to the tranquil edge of Lake Hayes with the backdrop of rolling hills. Executive chef Vaughan Mabee created a 25-course tasting menu that is a testimony of the country’s culinary geography and history. The menu especially focuses on the ‘bones and marrow’ that is derived from roots stocked up with smoked vegetables and nuts. Their wild onion weed jam, which comes along with apples and fig leaf oil, is a sweet and savoury heaven.
Fyn, Cape Town
Winner of the Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award, this restaurant is an amalgamation of South African produce and a Japanese kaiseki-inspired menu. Perched on a location that boasts the city’s skyline, the plant-based menu has dishes like tamagoyaki nigiri, kosho salsa and aged shoyu, pearl couscous and for desert robata-grilled pineapple along with rice ice cream.
